Strange Connections
by Asinda
Summary: I would hope that by now, some of you are blood-thirsty for more. Well, guess what? The third chapter is finished and hot off the presses. Please remember to R&R!
1. Strange Connections

In the dark and alone, Li steps out of her parents' restaurant to head home. She had been working late due to so many customers, and all she wants is a good night's rest. As she rounds the corner, a group of black-leather clad young men that had been going in the other direction decides to follow her. She hears the footsteps and takes off running. Li is caught in seconds, and the men proceed to threaten her. "I have no money," she manages to stammer.  
  
The apparent leader of the group bares what appears to be a set of pearly white fangs, and snarls in her face, "We aren't after your MONEY, sweetheart." Then he nods his head and the group starts grabbing for her clothes. In seconds, she is stripped down to rags and cannot do anything about it. Panicked, she starts screaming, but before she can even get the pitch to bloodcurdling, the men are off of her.   
  
Startled, she looks around. Li sees what looks like a young woman standing in the shadows. "Oh, did they leave because of you?" The woman says nothing, but steps forward a bit, the dim light from the streetlamp a few yards away making her look much more pale than she is. Li notices a very sharp-looking sword in the woman's left hand, feeling positive that was the reason for the men to take off like that, but confused as to whether or not she should follow suit.  
  
The frightened nineteen-year-old huddles against the wall, shivering and whimpering a little. The woman steps forward a little more, scowling. "You should not be walking alone, girl. You could get yourself killed, or worse." She parts her lips just enough for Li to see more of the teeth that the men had, but hers were a little longer. Li gasps, and backs up, slipping on some garbage. She closes her eyes and begins to pray, but soon feels an icy hand on her shoulder. She looks up, hoping that the woman is gone, but it IS the woman. She shrinks away again, as if thinking she will be better protected. "I don't intend to hurt you, Honey. I'm trying to help you up." The woman steps back and allows the girl a bit of time to regain her composure, what little may remain anyway.  
  
"Who..." The girl struggles to be calm, and does not want to let this being know that she is fearful. She clears her throat; "Who are you?" She tries hard to not make eye contact, but it seems that her own eyes are drawn to the woman's. The woman steps forward a bit, offering her hand again. Li cautiously takes it, hoping she isn't making a fatal mistake. She is pulled up so easily, as if she were a mere child. Little does she realize that she is compared to her new acquaintance.  
  
"My name is Chanterelle. I hope you aren't hurt too badly, Miss..."  
  
"Oh, my name is Li. Thank you for helping me. I think I'll be fine. That's some sword you've got there, though." She immediately places her hand over her mouth, in the hopes that the woman has not been offended. She tries to concentrate on finding her purse. The woman hands it to her, and she thanks her once again. "You are so nice to someone you don't know. Thank you..."  
  
"You, my dear, talk too much. You don't even know that I'm not going to hurt you. I know the thought has crossed your mind. Don't be so trusting of strangers, no matter how they've helped you. I could have just been saving my breakfast from mutilation." Chanterelle smiles now, fully showing her gleaming fangs. Her smile only widens as she watches the young girl return to her former state of cowering against the wall. "Oh come, now. I really wouldn't have gone to the trouble if it was only a matter of saving a meal. Do you realize how many of your kind roams the streets at night?" She brushes a stray strand of hair from her pale brow. "Come on, I'll follow you home."  
  
"I don't trust you. Why should I, after all you've said?"  
  
"I just saved your ass, Little One. Those punks are up there somewhere, waiting for a second chance to have a go at you. You can either fend for yourself, or trust me not to hurt you. I promise that I won't, you just have to suspend your disbelief for a bit." She crosses her thin, pale arms over her chest and waits for the girl to consider this. Growing a little impatient, Chanterelle starts to walk away.  
  
"Wait!" Li calls to her, almost frantically. "Now that I know who you are, how about WHAT you are?" The girl is now the one with the crossed arms. She stares at the woman almost defiantly, gaining some of her courage back. The woman turns back to her and smiles again.  
  
"You mean you don't know?" Chanterelle, now being the one to suspend her disbelief, doesn't know whether to laugh or to cry. "Why I'm a vampire, darling. Have been for a little over 500 years. THAT was why those punks scattered. They felt my presence long before you did, and turned tail."  
  
"Were they...vampires, too?" Li feels as if she's been thrown into the Twilight Zone with this conversation, and although she wants to run, she feels strange, as if she is being held there. The vampire moves closer, confirming this.  
  
"Of course they were. Pity they ran though. I could have used a little pick me up." The girl looks fearful again. "Oh, don't worry. It wasn't going to be you I dined on. Blood from other vampires only makes the strong ones stronger. Survival of the fittest...surely you've heard of that old line." The vampire gracefully props herself against the wall beside Li, and the girl tries hard to keep from cringing away. "You have no reason to fear me yet, girl."  
  
"I told you my name, please use it...Chanterelle!" The girl regains some of her courage and defiance once again. The vampire chuckles and shakes her head.  
  
"Not too bright, but definitely spunky. Good job, Li. You've just earned yourself a few days of not being consumed. Better take me up on the offer of seeing you safely home before I change my mind." She looks at the insolent young woman and sighs to herself. 'This kid isn't quite paddling with both oars.'   
  
"OK, but please don't eat me." Li looks at her strangely, as if she isn't sure exactly how it would feel to be bitten by a vampire.  
  
"Did you eat any wasabi tonight?"  
  
"Yes, I always eat it with sushi."  
  
"Then, don't worry. Trust me..." The vampire makes a face. The girl looks at her like she has gone mad. "I can't stand the aftertaste, Honey." Li giggles and starts walking toward home, thinking how strange a pair they must make. A young Japanese girl in a tattered, blue kimono and a pale white woman with fangs wearing a long, black coat and a long sword sheathed on her back. 


	2. An Old Friend

Chanterelle sits alone in the darkness, running her slender fingers through her obsidian hair. Thinking of her long, enduring past, she wonders how she ever got herself into this predicament. Dawn grows ever closer, yet she can't seem to stop thinking about everything in her past leading up to this point. She recalls vividly her Embrace, yet can't remember anything before that. She tries to imagine what she was like before meeting Cain, and can't recall anything. There is a period of nearly fifty years lost in a never-ending downward spiral; if she can't remember her human life, then why was she ever alive in the first place? 'There must be some reason for my existence,' she thinks a bit remorsefully. 'This can't possibly be what I was put here for originally. If there is a God, he or she must have had some purpose for me.'  
  
"Oh, what the hell am I thinking? There's no such thing as religion! It was created by humans in a lame attempt to understand their surroundings!" She sighs upon saying this, recalling the she was once fascinated by the thought that there was some higher power, one which controlled everything that happened, and ever were to happen. She had been raised a Roman Catholic, and had been quite proud to recite her prayers. This is all she remembers of her human life, though, and she becomes quite ill-tempered thinking about it for so long. Slamming her fist down on the little table by her bed, she realizes that she should get some rest before it's too late. She gets up to reaffirm that the curtains are closed, and the 'do not disturb' sign is on the door. She then undresses and slips under the covers, trying to go to sleep before daylight.  
  
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Li is washing and dressing a wound that incurred by the hands of the punk vampires, having already tossed out her tattered kimono. She gazes into the mirror, fearfully checking for any signs that she had been damaged. Her father would throw a fit, and she didn't think that would be the best idea at this point. He wouldn't believe her about the vampires, nor would he accept that she had been helped by a complete stranger. Fortunately, though, she had no markings on her personage that would be visible to him. She dressed the wound on her thigh, then dressed herself, putting on a fresh kimono, this one mainly in black with red flowers on it. Giving herself one last look in the mirror, she flipped the light switch and left her bathroom.  
  
Heading down the stairs to oversee the preparations for her father's meal this morning, she nearly tripped over Sugar, her white Persian cat. Sugar let out a horrid hiss, and ran off to pursue whatever it was that she did during the day. "Sugar! I didn't mean to..." but it was too late; the cat had already disappeared. Li continued down the stairs, thinking about Chanterelle. Why had she helped her? What made such an insignificant girl as herself so important for someone like the vampire woman to help her, even if the woman had threatened her?  
  
In the kitchen now, Li tells the chef her father's breakfast order; pork fried rice and a couple of scrambled eggs. It chilled the girl to think of how her father could eat such a thing for breakfast, for she had grown quite accustomed to eating a Pop-Tart on the way to her classes. Truth be told, Li hardly ate anything anymore; only the little breakfast once in awhile and whatever she ate at the restaurant when her classes and homework were done. She pours herself a glass of orange juice, and sits quietly in the living area off to the side of the kitchen.   
  
She is still thinking about the strange woman and what she had told her earlier. 'Chanterelle...that name sounds French. I wonder what her life was like? She is certainly beautiful, and seems very mysterious. She must have had men lining the streets of Paris, waiting to be her lover. Well, if she lived in Paris. She said I talk too much. Humph! She doesn't know me! I only think too much. Father won't allow me to talk too much. I just can't believe that vampires really exist. Boy, that was like an episode of the Twilight Zone or Outer Limits. Maybe even Buffy...' The girl giggles, gaining the unwanted attention of the chef. She glares at him, and he leaves her be.   
  
Her mother yells down the stairs that it's time for her to get ready for her lessons, so she takes her glass into the kitchen and sets it down on the counter before hurrying upstairs to gather her books and things. She sideswipes the chef, nearly making him lose her father's tray, and causing him to glare at her this time. "Sorry," she exclaims, still hurrying to the staircase. She nearly knocks her mother down the stairs trying to get to her room. Her mother lets it go, though. She knows how it is, and Li cannot miss any more of her first class or the college will take her out of it. Composition is one of the requirements for her earning the degree, and if she fails, she'll have to take it over, and that will cause far too much trouble. Li puts her satchel over her shoulder, and rushes back downstairs and out the door.   
  
She pushes the button on her key chain that unlocks the car, and hurries to the passenger side to deposit her bag. Nearly tripping over her own two feet getting to the driver's side of her little Toyota Echo, she starts muttering and cursing over the stabbing pain in her left thigh, and the fact that she may be late yet again. "Just what I don't need right now...damn cat! Its all her fault...if she hadn't been under my feet, my morning would have started out so much better!" She sits gingerly, so as not to displace the bandage on her leg, then slams the door and cranks the car loudly, revving the poor little 4 cylinder engine until it sounds like a bored-out hairdryer. Her music is on so loud that she can barely hear herself think, but because its a song she likes, she leaves it. She has a twenty minute drive ahead of her, and that's if traffic isn't horrendous. Backing out of the driveway, she nearly hits a dog, and pushes the down button to yell at the thing, as if it is the dog's fault she's in a hurry. Big mistake, though, for the dog lunges at her and she has to roll the window up fast! "Damn dog! Bite me! Nyah-nyah..." She speeds off in the direction of the freeway, trying to keep the car on the road while she lights a cigarette. 'Damn, but I wish I didn't have to hide this habit!'  
  
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Darkness falls on the city of Jackson once more, and Chanterelle is waking fitfully. Her sharp senses tell her that something isn't right, but she can't yet tell what it is that's wrong. Suddenly, a flame appears, and lights a Marlboro Menthol. 'Kirk,' she thinks miserably. "Hello, Darling," her voice dripping so thick with sarcasm one couldn't even cut it with a Gensu. "What have I done, now?"  
  
The man sitting at her table and smoking in a non-smoking hotel room was none other than Kirk Roland, her so-called boss for this operation. The two had been lovers once, and she nearly bit his head off (literally). Kirk runs a hand through his long, blonde hair, takes a drag off of his smoke, and says, "Why isn't the ambassador dead yet, Chanterelle?"  
  
"Well, you explain to me first how you managed to get in here without my noticing. Also, when exactly did you get in here?"  
  
"I haven't been here long, Sweetheart. As for how I managed to slip by your radar, I don't know. I thought you were just ignoring me." He gives her a wide, toothy smile. "Now, let's get down to business, shall we?" He taps his fingers on the table, a sound he knows she hates.  
  
Gritting her teeth, she reaches for his smokes. 'If he's doing it, so can I...' He obliges, and passes her the lighter. She lights one, inhaling gently as she hadn't smoked for over 20 years, and forgetting that it won't bother her. "I had forgotten how good these things taste. Thanks," she looks down. "There's a problem with my Op."  
  
"What kind of problem?" He looks a bit angry, but knows the Chanterelle wouldn't be telling him this if she didn't think there wasn't something serious.  
  
"Well, I kind of let myself be known to the oldest daughter."  
  
"YOU WHAT?????" Kirk shook his head frantically, trying to believe that she hadn't just said that. "How? And this had better be damned good, Chant." He was referring to her by the old name he used to call her when they were close, so she wasn't worried much. But, she could tell that he was immensely afraid.  
  
"I saved her in a blind alley from a gang of punk vamps. They turned tail when they sensed me, but somehow I took it upon myself to walk her home safely." Seeing the look on Kirk's Anglican face, she quickly continued. "I didn't know it was her, Kirk. Honest. All I knew was that I heard a woman screaming, and you know how I am about that." The other vampire's face softened greatly.  
  
"Always have to be the heroine, Chant. I would have thought two hundred years as a mercenary would have gotten that out of you. At any rate, does any of the family besides her know about you?"   
  
Chanterelle tries tapping into Li's thoughts, successfully. "No, she hasn't said a word. She's afraid to. Not that her family will believe some tale about weirdo's in an alley and a dark, warrior woman saving her ass anyway. I'm telling you, Hon...the gig isn't up yet. I'll see to it that it isn't."  
  
"Well, Baby, just remember your deadline. It never takes you more than a week, and They know it. Want another smoke for later?"  
  
"No, but thanks. I told you I'd see to it that the job got done, and you know I will. Matter-of-fact, I'm going to try to handle it tonight." She briefly hugs him and lets her lips brush against his cheek, just to let him know she still cares. She stands and watches as he disappears out of the window, and then sets out about her business. 


	3. The Plan Unfolds

Midnight arrives once more in the city of Jackson. Li frantically begs over the phone to her mother to have someone pick her up from the restaurant. Her mother claims that its far too late to be dragging the family driver out of bed for the simple task of picking her up, when she could have driven her car, or could just walk home. "It's less than a mile, Li. Really, now...you don't expect someone to come and get you, do you? You've been walking home every night for the past six months. What's gotten into you?"  
  
"But, Mother! I swear...I was followed for a bit last night. There were..." Li is suddenly interrupted by her father's booming voice.  
  
"Li, what did you just say?" He sounds incredibly angry, and she winces before attempting to answer him with something that he would believe.  
  
"Father, I was followed by a group of rugged looking boys last night. They didn't hurt me, though. A policeman stopped them before they got the chance." Li felt good about this story, although she wasn't sure yet whether he believed it or not.   
  
"Oh. I see. As long as you aren't hurt, all is well. Just in case, I will come get you tonight. Wait for me inside the store. I will be there in five minutes." The phone was put back into the receiver and she hung up as well. Tapping her long, slender fingers on the counter, she boxed up what was left of her dinner and included a pair of disposable chopsticks so that she wouldn't have to dirty any dishes and face the wrath of the chef.   
  
Li gathers her things and sits at one of the tables near the door, watching closely for her father's black Crown Victoria to pull up to the curb. She quickly tires of peering out the glass, and starts to read a passage from her psychology textbook. [CLANK] Li looks up from the book to see what hit the glass. She sees Chanterelle standing there, and quickly gets up and goes to the door. Turning the bolt, she pokes her head out and asks, "What are you doing here? My father will be here any minute!"  
  
The vampire smirks. "He won't see me. Trust me. However, when you get home, I will be waiting in your room. I must speak with you. I trust that you have some music you can put on, so that we won't be heard?" Li nods, and the woman simply vanishes. Startled by this, Li looks around, seeing her father's car coming towards the store. She grabs her things, steps outside, and locks the door in time for him to have the car door open for her. Sliding into the warm, velvet-covered seat, she sighs.  
  
"Those boys come back to torment you, Li?" Her father asks this looking rather exhausted. She shakes her head and tells him that the restaurant was quite busy that evening. "Oh? How much money did we make?" His eyes show signs of his enormous greed, and he salivates at the thought of carrying a fat bankroll to be deposited.   
  
Li rolls her eyes. "We made $3,000 tonight, Father. I have it secured in the safe in your office, which I remembered to lock this time." She sighs again.  
  
"Li, you're getting better! I can't recall how many times you've forgotten to lock my office. Not that anything has ever been stolen, mind you. I keep very honest employees..." He just continues babbling incessantly about the precious restaurant, while Li thinks her opinions silently. It wouldn't do her any good to voice them, as she's found out many times before. The ambassador seems to have forgotten the things that provoked him to start his lucrative little business in the first place; the necessity for his family to have food on their table, and for Li to have a proper education. All he cares about now is counting his money, which is why, unbeknownst to Li, the vampire friend she has made has been contracted to kill him.   
  
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Chanterelle materializes in the darkness of Li's bedroom, and sits on the bed waiting for the girl to get home. She hears a vehicle in the driveway, and taps into Li's mind to see what she sees. Seeing the front of the house, Chanterelle smiles to herself and waits a little longer, hearing the car doors slam shut and a key turning the lock to the front door. Li is telling her father that she needs to finish her studying, and will have her music on, though not too loudly. He tells her in no uncertain terms that she will be sorry should she wake him with it, and they both adjourn upstairs to their respective rooms. While the ambassador climbs back into bed with his soundly sleeping wife, Li opens her door cautiously. She peers into the darkness, and smells blood. She flips on the light, only to find the vampire sitting upon her bed. Quickly, she shuts the door, motioning for the woman to be quiet until she has turned on the radio.   
  
The vampire nods, and Li crosses the room gingerly. She turns the radio on, and turns it up to an appropriate volume. Whispering, Li tells the woman, "Ok, I guess we can talk now."   
  
Chanterelle shakes her head, thinking that Li doesn't have the music up quite loud enough. "I don't enjoy whispering, child. Can't you turn it up any louder?" Li responds by turning it up two more notches. "That's much better. How was work?"  
  
"You wanted to speak to me about work?" Li is flustered a bit by this, but answers the woman's question as she has been taught to do. "It was busy. And rather boring," she adds in aside. "What did you really want to speak to me about?" She sits on the bed beside her new friend, unaware that the vampire could kill her on a whim.   
  
Chanterelle smiles and tells her about her little problem. "Darling Li, I have a slight dilemma here. I'm not your average Night Walker. I'm a mercenary. Do you know what that is?" Li nods, a little confused. "I assume, then, that you know of the nature of my work?" The girl nods again. "Very well. I have been contracted to kill someone close to you. Before you say anything, I need your word that you will not tell anyone of what I have said. If it was known that I was even speaking of my tasks with a human, I would be tortured and then killed by my superiors." She pauses for a moment to let this sink into Li's mind. The girl slowly nods in agreement, and the vampire continues. "Li, this is not easy for me to say, but I have been asked to exterminate your father."  
  
Li gasps, trying to get a grip on the situation. She flounders for a moment, thinking that since she was told, she may have to be killed as well. "Um, I know that he's an important man and all, but..."  
  
"No, I do not have to kill you. Not yet, anyway. You must promise me that you won't say a word." The vampire has a deathly serious look on her ashen face. Her fangs, barely visible, begin to get longer as if in warning to the girl.  
  
"I promise." The girl now looks considerably paler, but her firm resolve tells Chanterelle that she won't, in fact, be a problem for her. Satisfied with the girl's vow, she proceeds to tell Li what she needs to do.  
  
"Li, I need you to do something for me, though. You need to disappear for awhile. I don't know for how long, and you should try not to tell anyone the truth about where you are. I am the only vampire that has your mind traced, and I assure you that I won't betray you. As early as possible tomorrow morning, I need you to go to a friend's house, and tell your parents that you are going somewhere else. Can you do this?" The girl looks as if she's about to cry, but nods that she can. "Good. I don't want you to think about what's going to happen. It will take place tomorrow night. Should you betray me, I'll hunt you down and relish in the feeling of your tender flesh being ripped to shreds by my lovely fangs. Are we quite clear?"  
  
"Y...Yes...We're perfectly clear. Mind telling me why you chose to tell me this?" The girl, obviously frightened, seems to have found her courage once again.  
  
The vampire smiles, thinking of the answer that will make the most sense to the tiny Japanese girl. "Well, Li dear, I would like to consider you as a friend, an ally of sorts. It is not my wish to have to continue with my job at this point, having saved you from that Penang street gang. However, I must. There are those that could do away with me. Not to mention that this is the last job I must do before I am released from my duties as a mercenary. I've grown quite tired of this endless charade." Chanterelle crosses her arms over her chest, tapping into the girl's head again. She finds a rather disturbing thought. "What's that? You want me to kill him?" She stares at Li in disbelief.  
  
"Oh, yes. I just wish that I could be here to find him. He's a hateful, arrogant bastard! All he cares about is his precious restaurant, not us...not my mother, who has given him so many years of her life willingly, just so he could throw her away when she no longer becomes convenient to him. Don't look at me that way, Chanterelle! If you could sense that I want you to kill him, you can probably just look in my head and see what I'm talking about." Li shuts her mouth quickly, fearing that she may have angered the woman.  
  
"I'm not mad. Just a little...well, confused. I thought surely his daughter wouldn't want him dead." She decides to read the girl's thoughts again, and finds that he beat her as a small girl. She sees the times when, in Japan, the man had beaten her mother into submission; though these thoughts have the distinct aura of something told to the girl by her mother in confidence. Chanterelle's eyes grow darker and more narrow with every new thought of him that Li sends to her. Then, she gets the clear impression that Li, herself, would like to kill him. "Oh, no. It's imperative that you stay out of the way. Should you want refuge afterwards, you may live with me. I'll allow you to finish school; I have more than sufficient funds..."  
  
"If I were to live with you, I'd want to be LIKE you." The girl states this very matter-of-factly. So much so that Chanterelle is taken aback. "Yes, I said it. I'd like to become a vampire!" Chanterelle nods, knowing why the girl has said this. With what she's just seen of the girl's life, she would thoroughly enjoy having the freedom that comes with the embrace. She could still continue her studying, providing that she take night classes. It may take longer, but what else does a vampire have, but time? The vampire smiles and settles down on the bed.   
  
Taking this opportunity to delve a little into the mind of her friend, Li asks, "So what would that entail?" She sits back on her bed, thinking that it must be painful. 'Not moreso than what I've already had to endure, I'm sure.' The girl's mind now wandering with the different things she has heard about vampires, particularly Asian vampires. The fact that the kuei-jin do not have to suck blood thrills her somewhat.  
  
"Oh, Li...you would be only Kindred if I were to embrace you. In order for you to become like the vampires from your country, you would have to actually die and come back with unfinished business, much like a ghost." The girl looks somewhat sullen about this, and Chanterelle continues. "Not that being a member of the Kindred is anything to sneeze at. You'll still acquire much power, should you stay 'alive' long enough. Under my watch, I'm sure that you would, though. I don't fancy allowing my children to become a meal for someone else."  
  
Visibly brightened, Li smiles. "Does this mean you'll do it?" She leans forward, eagerly waiting for the vampire to answer.  
  
Chanterelle simply smiles. "My friend, if that is truly what you wish, I will. I must get this business taken care of, though. Do be a good girl, and get some sleep. Then promptly disappear. I'll come for you when it becomes safe." As Chanterelle begins to fade, Li grabs her arm. "Yes?"  
  
"How will you know where to find me?" The vampire tells her that she just will. "Well, then...may I go to school for the next few days?"  
  
"Oh, no...only if you must, I suppose. Please don't allow anyone to know that you are going, though. It may be too easy for you to be found there. I will leave you with this. If you run into trouble, think my name clearly. Though, as you go to daylight classes, I don't suppose you will need me. If you do, though, I can only help you indoors. Goodnight, Little One." Chanterelle vanishes into this air, leaving the girl somewhat more confused than she had been before.  
  
Li curls up in her snug bed, wondering when she will see it again after tomorrow. As she falls asleep, Chanterelle materializes in her hotel room.   
  
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Kirk is sitting at her table again. He lights a smoke, barely having put out the other one. Chanterelle watches the curling smoke rise from his lips and the lit end of the cigarette. "Care to join me, love?" Kirk asks this as nonchalantly as possible, for him. She sits in the chair opposite him, and lights one of his Marlboro Menthols. She stares at him blankly, waiting for him to tell her why he's appeared once again. "Oh, I just thought that you could use some company. I've been waiting for nearly an hour for you to come back, though."  
  
"I was getting some food." She says this just as blankly as she looked at him a moment ago. He nods, motioning for her to continue. "There's really nothing else to say, Kirk."  
  
"Oh, isn't there? What about the fact that you've spent time with that girl?" He looks at her knowingly. Unflinching, she refuses to let him read her mind. "Dear, dear Chant...you know me better than to betray you. Darling, give it a rest and tell me what's going on, and why the man isn't dead yet." His eyes take on a viciousness that she's only seen once before. She knows that he is aware of precisely what was said between the two of them, and that he would stab her in the back without a second thought should he decide that she hadn't acted with completely pure intent.   
  
"Do I, Darling?" Her voice now acrid and dark. "What about a hundred years ago? When you just decided to let my prey know what I was doing? You haven't been with the organization all that long, and I will never forget that what you did before joining us nearly got me killed by Lucian. I haven't said anything to him about our sordid past, nor do I intend to. Just kindly keep your Anglican nose out of this." She stubbed out the cigarette, now fuming and wanting his head lopped off. Preferably by her blade, but the exact method used wouldn't matter so long as he was thoroughly beheaded.  
  
Kirk quickly got up from the chair and slapped her. Then withdrew his hand in time to only have received a deep bite mark in it. "Oh, dear...I'm sorry, Chant. It's just that..." He was abruptly cut off by the now furious female vampire.  
  
"Do NOT call me Chant, anymore, dear Kirk. It could be hazardous to your health. I know that you can't really stay out of this situation, seeing as how your Benedict Arnold ass is in charge of the operation. Just kindly do stay out of my personal affairs! Li is no more a threat to me or my job than you are, and I'll let you know that she fully intends to keep her word of not saying anything. I only told her what I did to forewarn her, since I consider her a friend. You know my loyalties to my friends, regardless of how long I've known them." Chanterelle crosses the room and plops down on her rented bed, as uncomfortable with his presence as she ever was before. One look at his face tells her that he is genuinely sorry for having slapped her; he quite resembles a lost puppy, now that she thinks about it. "Oh, what now? You wish to make it up to me?"  
  
He takes on a new countenance with this. "May I?" She regards him, then pats the bed for him to sit beside her. Quietly, he takes a seat next to her, his head hanging low. She reaches up and strokes his sandy hair. Gazing at her now with cobalt eyes, he smiles softly. "I am quite sorry, Chanterelle. Please forgive me."  
  
"Oh, I suppose I might." She smirks a bit and bares her fangs to him, somewhat maliciously. "What's in it for me?"  
  
"Whatever your wicked heart desires." He leans down and places a gentle kiss on her soft, yet cold lips. Smiling through his kiss, she returns it greedily. She pushes him onto his back, kissing him in places that she knows he likes and taking his clothes off piece by piece. When she gets his pants off, she takes much pleasure in the fact that he's not wearing anything underneath. She smirks at him, then sinks her fangs deep into his inner thigh. His gasp of pain mixed with pleasure sends chills up and down her spine.  
  
"Oh, you wicked, sinister little bitch!" He reaches over and turns off the bedside lamp, and flips her over and proceeds to do the same to her.  
  
**********************************************************************************  
  
Getting ready for school as usual, Li makes no mention of her midnight visitor. She simply tells her mother over breakfast that she's going to spend a few days with her friend Stacy. Her mother, not understanding why she'd want to spend time with that horrible girl, begins to ask questions. "Li, darling, why? You know we can't stand that child. She's going to turn you into one of those...what's the term I'm looking for?"  
  
"Goth, Mother? I'm already that way when I'm allowed to hang out with my friends. You've seen it yourself. I only leave the house like that when Father isn't home, though. You did ask that, right?" Li now looks at her eggs exasperatedly and pushes them around her plate with the silver fork. Her mother simply nods in agreement. "I'm going because I need a vacation. Don't worry, I'm going to go to class. AND, yes....no drugs or anything like that. Stacy doesn't use them, anyway. Besides, I've already gotten Cousin Wong to take my shifts for the next few days." A lie, but a simple phone call would change that, and she'd be sure to tell him to say that she'd asked him a couple days ago. Wong is great for things like this, even if he is a total pot-head. She thinks to buy him a fat bag as soon as she is allowed to see him.   
  
"Li, if you knew about this before now, why did you not speak of it to me?" Her mother regards her with groggy eyes, and sips her black coffee. Li shrugs, gets up and puts her backpack on her shoulders. She goes across the room, kisses her mother on the cheek, and leaves for school.  
  
Li's little Toyota gives her some trouble cranking, which she attributes to the unusual chill in the air. Unusual for late September, even. She drives off, speeding and lighting a smoke. She pops in a CD by Cradle of Filth and bobs her head, silently thinking of who she can possibly crash with for the next few days.... 


End file.
